Rifling Through the DUMP pt. II
can't think of a subhead for this one SORRY
I've written about 4000 words in the past 24 hours and am still in the writing mood so I'm gonna go through my DUMP folder on Notes and write about some of my throwaway thoughts I've tossed in there over the past couple months. I wrote this on Wednesday but am publishing Friday; don't know why I felt the need to include it but you're welcome for the peek behind the curtain.
DQ decomposing in its very own parking lot
This was in the Woodstock neighborhood of Portland where I walked past what looked to be a pretty old Dairy Queen on its last legs. It had a parking lot all its own, a pretty big one, and was sitting on an intersection. Prime real estate, or at least it was at a time. I do not understand the economy and have come to the conclusion that money is mostly fake and one of the ways I've come to feel this way is seeing constantly empty businesses that are still somehow in business. I imagine this particular Dairy Queen owns the building and the land judging by how old it is but even so, how long can a Dairy Queen operate at what I have to assume is a loss even when you consider that they are grossly underpaying their workers.
Do not stay in your safety zone
This is a line from a Beach Boys song that really connected with me while I was listening to Pet Sounds on repeat after a stranger at the bar gave me an edible that was stronger than expected. It's good to challenge yourself with new experiences in new places around new people. Growing bored is very scary to me, even scarier than trying new things which used to be and at times still is the scariest thing imaginable.
Accepting, embracing, and loving the temporal beauty of it all
Alright settle down, Ryan. I do not recall writing this but I imagine it was the Beach Boys edible night. I had a brief fling over the summer that was always going to be a brief fling because I was moving and she was not. It was nice. One of the double-edged swords of social media is that it is really easy to keep in contact with brief encounters. For example I met a guy at Portola who had also been at a warehouse party I attended in LA a couple weeks ago. We exchanged numbers and Instagrams and didn't see each other again. He lives in New York and I think odds are I probably will never see him again. Or maybe we will; either way that's fine! I met a guy on a train from Amsterdam to Harlem in 2016 and we chatted about music the whole time until his stop which was a couple before mine. We didn't exchange info and I don't remember his name, but I'll always remember that interaction. It's special to me to have those brief moments with strangers who will almost certainly never enter your life again. Few friendships last forever, I think we oughta spend more time appreciating those that never left the tarmac.
I've Unlocked Something
Judging by the capitalization I intended this to be a standalone post but you snooze you lose! These past few months I have felt like a different, better person. It's awesome. It is so cool to be growing. In my mind I only have one life so I might as well use the damn thing to do my best.
how opted out of your own capacity for joy would you have to be to be watching cnn at 1am on a monday morning
I was on a late night walk and walked past an apartment where someone was watching CNN by themselves. They had not fallen asleep. It really bummed me out to think about what kind of life that is to live.
have you ever stood in the middle of a road late at night, able to look both directions for what seems like at least a mile without a single car at night? it's nice
That's all!
hamms or high water
Phrase I thought of while drinking a Hamm’s beer.
claustrophobia built into america. obsessed with having land and space and lots of it
This reads as kind of an oxymoron but I find it to be true. There is this strange impulse to build yourself this massive castle with walls so tall that nobody can see in. But doing this, you lose the seeing out, which is important. Constructing a multi-million dollar prison to asphyxiate in does not sound like my idea of a good time.
is the sun brighter closer to the equator
Yes
bird bathing in a puddle
Saw it.
zone • ify- full performance of a song during pre-previews
I was sitting at a Laemmle movie theater waiting for Perfect Blue to start and one of the pre-previews was a band doing a full performance of a song in a studio. It was very strange and the people sitting behind me said "what the fuck was that?!?" when it ended. The song was not good but it was not awful.
sky feels bigger here. i think this is threefold: trees are shorter, streets are wider, no clouds
To me, the sky in Los Angeles feels bigger for the reasons listed above. Obviously a subjective thing but I feel it.
guy burning incense tucked into his beanie
Saw this at the Promises show. He had two sticks of lit incense tucked into the fold of his beanie. Seems like a nauseating way to walk around and I would be worried I'd catch my head on fire.
guy karate kicking the subway gate open when the turnstile right next to it was wide open
This remains the funniest thing I've seen a stranger do in Los Angeles. Exits at LA Metro stops generally have about five or six turnstiles and an emergency exit gate right beside it. If you exit through one of the turnstiles the turnstiles will rotate you through. This particular dude was not interested in all of that, squared up the emergency gate, leaned back and Spartan kicked the gate while letting out an involuntary noise. It was so loud; he really went for it.
two guys going back and forth showing each other the most horribly boring tattoos on their phones.
The tattoos looked like if Apple was commissioned with re-designing the alien language from Arrival. The most boring shit imaginable. Pickleball comes in many shapes and sizes.
who decided that tapatio, cholula, and especially tabasco should be the default hot sauces
These are three of the most boring and shittiest hot sauces on the market yet they are generally the only options at restaurants, especially breakfast spots. This country needs a Napoleon figure.